[Medical treatment of sustained ventricular tachycardia. Retrospective study of 85 patients]

Arch Mal Coeur Vaiss. 1989 Jul-Aug;82(8):1415-20.
[Article in French]

Abstract

In this retrospective study the antiarrhythmic of 85 patients suffering from sustained and recurrent attacks of ventricular tachycardia is analysed. Among these patients, 48 had ischaemic heart disease, 18 had right ventricular arrhythmogenic dysplasia, 9 had dilated cardiomyopathy and 2 had complex heart disease; in 8 patients the tachycardia was idiopathic. Two hundred and seventy-two antiarrhythmic treatments administered orally alone or in combination were studied. Their effectiveness was evaluated on the clinical course of the disease, on the résults of Holter recordings and, in some cases, on electrophysiological exploration. The mean follow-up period was 50 months. Each patient received 3.2 antiarrhythmic treatments on average. The effectiveness and side-effects of these treatments are analysed retrospectively, but the relative effectiveness of a treatment compared to another cannot be extrapolated to a new patient. Prescription in this field is purely empirical. The recent amiodarone-flecainide combination has been the most frequently used antiarrhythmic treatment in recent years. It was given to 33 patients in this series and proved effective in 21 patients followed up for 22 months.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Amiodarone / adverse effects
  • Amiodarone / therapeutic use
  • Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / adverse effects
  • Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Chronic Disease
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Flecainide / adverse effects
  • Flecainide / therapeutic use
  • Heart Ventricles
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Recurrence
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tachycardia / drug therapy*
  • Tachycardia / mortality

Substances

  • Anti-Arrhythmia Agents
  • Flecainide
  • Amiodarone